Warning
Please note that hillwalking when there is snow lying requires an ice-axe, crampons and the knowledge, experience and skill to use them correctly. Summer routes may not be viable or appropriate in winter. See winter information on our skills and safety pages for more information.

After the cancellation of the 5 sisters of Kintail walk (all talk nae walk ) I wasn't about to stay in so decided to head to Beinn a Ghlo where another 3 munros were up for grabs. I was on the road by 5am and pulled up at Loch Moraig at 7am, the first car here. Cloud base was above the summits for now at least, which was a first for me for a while.

Carn Liath

I headed through the gate and along the path towards Carn Liath when in front of me, blocking my way, was a herd of cows. I am never sure what the protocol is - pass through them or give them a wide berth? They all turned to look at me as if to say "come on then, make your move" A couple of them snorted and stamped a wee bit - sod this I thought, and i jumped over the nearby fence and skirted round them (cluck, cluck ) When I had got far enough away from them I jumped back over the fence, back on to the path until I came to the hut which signalled time to leave the path and begin to head up the steep incline towards the summit of Carn Liath.

Heading up to the summit

Lovely thistle on the path

The path up is steep in places - no scrambling, just loose scree and an incline to get the heart pumping

Eroded steep path

As I neared the summit, I suddenly caught sight of a yellow ptarmigan chick running for its life. Then, camouflaged against the ground the mother lifted her wing and five other chicks bolted. The mum ran towards me and off to the side clearly trying to focus my attention on her and not her bairns I backed off and circled round them and saw her scurry back. I hope she got them back all ok. I was gutted I didn't get a photo but I wanted to move away quickly before I caused them any more stress. Up ahead I reached the trig point and cairn of the first munro of the day.

summit of Carn Liath

From here I could see the rest of the route to come. In the below photo the lovely ridge walk and the second munro are on the left with the final summit of Carn nan Gabhar at the back on the right hand side.

Rest of Beinn a' Ghlo

The ridge walk was a delight - no real exposure but a lovely airy stroll. It was so good to be out here with great views not wandering around in the clag seeing heehaw which has been the case of late. Once the ridge was done I descended down to the foot of the second munro, Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (roughly translated as "hill where lowlanders have nae chance of pronouncing where they are" )The pull up was fine, a nice wee stretch of the legs, but just before I headed along the ridge to the summit, heavy clag rolled in and brought rain with it. I retreated to the nearby rock and got my waterproofs on before it got too heavy. I hunkered down in the shelter of the large rocks and waited for the rain to pass and the clag to clear. After 15 mins or so, I had a small window of clear ridge and went for it. By the time I reached the summit the clag was back and I lost the view.

Looking back to Carn Liath and the ridge

The ridge ahead and the rocks where I sheltered from the rain

Clag rolls in

summit of Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain

The descent of the second munro was supposed to be the trickiest part of the day but the route down was just below the cloud base so it was easy to pick a route down and join the path.

Heading along the ridge towards munro number 3

As i picked up the path I spotted a herd of deer in the glen below, who then caught sight of me and began to leg it I just managed to capture a grainy picture of them as they fled

The pull up to the final munro has often been described as tough after the previous two but I felt good and made short work up onto the broad ridge. Unfortunately, the clag was getting thicker and so I struggled to get a view as I came up to the first cairn, then onto the trig point and finally the summit cairn.

A look back at the first two munros

Partial view from trig point

summit cairn of Carn nan Gabhar

From the top of the final munro I knew it was a long walk out. The first half was quite fun surfing the sides of the eroded Airgiod Bheinn along the slippy stalkers path before finally crossing the burn. The second half was less fun as the feet began to tire and the ground became more unstable.

The long route home

Nice spot for a sun bathe

Reaching the main path back was a relief, as was the fact that the cattle had disappeared too Seeing the car was a sight for sore eyes (and feet) after a fairly brutal walk back. A great day though and another three done

Did these 3 last August and loved them all, especially the ridge walk between Carn Liath and that unpronouncable one...... Took me about 7.5 hrs all in which was a good time for me, the only downside was the walk back out from the final summit, there's no easy way to get through the valley without getting into some of the mud. In hindsight I should have stayed higher up to avoid the worst of it, but as we all know, hindsight is a wonderful thing to have...........

Sounds like a great wee expedition. I was up there 2 weeks ago in identical conditions. The ridge of Airgiod Beinn presented me with a bit of a surprise due to its rocky narrowness. The steep path down really took it out of my knees, particularly having done 5 munros and 40 kilometres over the 2 previous days! Blisters just healing now..

I loved my day out on Beinn a Ghlo and its always fab to hear someone else did too

Thanks Polly. It is a lovely walk

weescotsman wrote:Did these 3 last August and loved them all, especially the ridge walk between Carn Liath and that unpronouncable one...... Took me about 7.5 hrs all in which was a good time for me, the only downside was the walk back out from the final summit, there's no easy way to get through the valley without getting into some of the mud. In hindsight I should have stayed higher up to avoid the worst of it, but as we all know, hindsight is a wonderful thing to have...........

Thanks. I was looking at a slightly alternative route out, but decided against it as it was already a long trudge ahead, I didn't fancy trying something that might add to the pain

Fudgie wrote:I was almost joining you on Saturday but went to Ben Starav instead. It's good to see that the weather wasn't too bad and hopefully I'll follow in your footsteps soon.

You'll enjoy this one fudgie, get it on a nice day and it's a real pleasant round

jonnoh wrote:Sounds like a great wee expedition. I was up there 2 weeks ago in identical conditions. The ridge of Airgiod Beinn presented me with a bit of a surprise due to its rocky narrowness. The steep path down really took it out of my knees, particularly having done 5 munros and 40 kilometres over the 2 previous days! Blisters just healing now..

Did you go over the top and then down? I contoured round Airgiod. I looked at possibly going over the top but the descent looked quite steep on the knees

Johnny Corbett wrote:A great second choice, some talk the talk others walk the walk . I also loved this walk and with it being my 100th made it even better

Aye they do JC it's a wee cracker this one

basscadet wrote:Oh what a great report I loved the story of the maternal Ptarmigan.. Love them at this time of year, will do anything to distract your attention, even acting like eejits!

When I did this, I camped in amongst the cows and found them to be kind and considerate neighbours..

Thanks BC. I obviously misjudged the coos

monty wrote:Nice report LS. Its a cracker of a ridge with lovely grass underfoot. And a long walk out

Well if you think it's a long walk out then it must be pretty brutal Cheers Monty

jimandandrea wrote:Our Moby was parked up just before Loch Moraig and we heard a car pass - it was yourself. You passed us as we were heading up to the last top. Good to see your pics 90 mins ahead of us. Cheers.

Yep that was me, I remember seeing the van. I wondered if you guys were already on the walk but couldn't see anyone. Were you guys in red jackets? I think we crossed paths as I began the walk out as you began to climb number 3, I gave you a cheery raise of the pole Cheers

I loved my day out on Beinn a Ghlo and its always fab to hear someone else did too

Thanks Polly. It is a lovely walk

weescotsman wrote:Did these 3 last August and loved them all, especially the ridge walk between Carn Liath and that unpronouncable one...... Took me about 7.5 hrs all in which was a good time for me, the only downside was the walk back out from the final summit, there's no easy way to get through the valley without getting into some of the mud. In hindsight I should have stayed higher up to avoid the worst of it, but as we all know, hindsight is a wonderful thing to have...........

Thanks. I was looking at a slightly alternative route out, but decided against it as it was already a long trudge ahead, I didn't fancy trying something that might add to the pain

Fudgie wrote:I was almost joining you on Saturday but went to Ben Starav instead. It's good to see that the weather wasn't too bad and hopefully I'll follow in your footsteps soon.

You'll enjoy this one fudgie, get it on a nice day and it's a real pleasant round

jonnoh wrote:Sounds like a great wee expedition. I was up there 2 weeks ago in identical conditions. The ridge of Airgiod Beinn presented me with a bit of a surprise due to its rocky narrowness. The steep path down really took it out of my knees, particularly having done 5 munros and 40 kilometres over the 2 previous days! Blisters just healing now..

Did you go over the top and then down? I contoured round Airgiod. I looked at possibly going over the top but the descent looked quite steep on the knees

Yes I went over the top of Airgiod following a very rocky 'path' to the right of the ridge with a very steep drop to the right. The path then drops down quite steeply to the South west through heather and stones. As said it is narrow but nothing really to put anyone off taking that route. Was great to get to the car though after the mega walk out!

Johnny Corbett wrote:A great second choice, some talk the talk others walk the walk . I also loved this walk and with it being my 100th made it even better

Aye they do JC it's a wee cracker this one

basscadet wrote:Oh what a great report I loved the story of the maternal Ptarmigan.. Love them at this time of year, will do anything to distract your attention, even acting like eejits!

When I did this, I camped in amongst the cows and found them to be kind and considerate neighbours..

Thanks BC. I obviously misjudged the coos

monty wrote:Nice report LS. Its a cracker of a ridge with lovely grass underfoot. And a long walk out

Well if you think it's a long walk out then it must be pretty brutal Cheers Monty

laconic surf wrote:Yep that was me, I remember seeing the van. I wondered if you guys were already on the walk but couldn't see anyone. Were you guys in red jackets? I think we crossed paths as I began the walk out as you began to climb number 3, I gave you a cheery raise of the pole Cheers

Yes that was us. You looked in fine spirits. We opted for the protracted breakfast as we had all day! We may have looked slow but each step was meticulously planned!